She didn’t think she mattered to anyone, much less to God. Life was little more than a nightmare, a dark narrative that included seduction and child rape, emotional brutality, and all the countless injustices that flow in its wake. It began when she was twelve and didn’t end until she was seventeen. And though the horror was repeated over and over again, she could tell no one what was happening to her. However dark our secrets might be, they are never truly idle. They lie to us. They tell us awful things about ourselves. They shape our thought life, and make us afraid. It wasn’t until she told the person who would later become her husband the whole story did liberation come. And it is still coming. In the hands of a loving God, a God who not only sees but cares and responds, our nightmares become redemptive tales. Our darkest secrets show themselves for what they are (and what they are not). Keeping Secrets is a true story. It’s about survival and recovery from the madness of childhood sexual abuse. And, happily, it’s about redemption.

Ilonka Deaton’s inspiring message of hope is one of victorious life for any wounded heart. Growing up in South Africa, she was held in sexual slavery bondage for five years through the threat of her and her family’s life. Now set free and redeemed, she sings and speaks to audiences across the U.S. She encourages individuals through the love of Jesus Christ and to reminds them that their stories matter. As a recording artist, ilonka has nine recorded albums, performing internationally, and also collaborating and performing on projects with Michael W. Smith, Jill Philips, Rebecca St. James, and others. She has a degree in Biblical Counseling and is a member of The American Association of Christian Counselors. In 2012, she and her husband opened a free Counseling Center in Nashville for hurting women. She loves Yorkies, scrap booking, a warm sunny day, and fly-fishing with her husband.